Peterson, Kline break ranks on 'fiscal cliff' bill

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota's representatives voted along party lines on the bill to keep the U.S. from driving off the so-called "fiscal cliff" — with two notable exceptions.

Democrats Tim Walz, Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison voted yes, while Republicans Erik Paulsen, Michele Bachmann and Chip Cravaack voted no.

But Democrat Collin Peterson also voted no, while Republican John Kline voted yes.

Peterson, the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, had long opposed a short-term extension of the 2008 Farm Bill that became part of the deal. He wanted a new five-year farm bill to be part of the plan, along with dairy policy reforms he authored that did not make it into the bill.

While Kline voted yes, he called on President Barack Obama to work with Congress to cut spending.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.